Head to the north of Sandgem Town, onto Route 202, and you’ll run into the Professor’s assistant, Dawn (or Lucas). If you haven’t gone back to Twinleaf Town to talk to your mother, you’ll need to do that first, otherwise she’ll (he’ll) not let you pass. Otherwise, she’ll (he’ll) show you how to catch wild Pokémon.
[info title=”How to Catch Pokémon”]While Dawn or Lucas will give a very basic demonstration of catching Pokémon, it’s pretty much the basics to get out there and catch some. However, there are a few helpful tips that will help you catch Pokémon more reliably, in case you’re not familiar with it.
- Pokémon are easier to catch when they have a lower % of their maximum HP remaining. Ideally you’ll want to weaken it to about 1–5%, but in reality anything in the 20–50% range is usually enough.
- Rarer or evolved Pokémon tend to be harder to catch. This is due to them having a higher Catch Rate, which is a number each Pokémon has that determines its difficulty to catch.
- The ordinary Poké Ball is not the only type of Poké Ball you can use to catch Pokémon with! It’s just one of many. It’s also the weakest option for catching Pokémon. However, it’s all you’ll have available for awhile. Keep in mind that stronger Poké Ball variants are usually X amount stronger than the vanilla Poké Ball. For instance, the Great Ball has a catch rate of 1.5x, meaning it is 50% more effective than a Poké Ball (although that does not mean you have a 50% chance of catching Pokémon!).
- Affecting Pokémon with status conditions is a good way to improve the chances of catching them. Putting them to sleep is the best way, but paralysis is also a good status condition to inflict to improve your chances.
- Knocking out Pokémon means you cannot catch them, so if there’s a Pokémon you really want to catch, play it safe by not going overboard with damaging it—a critical hit can come out of nowhere and catch your attempt off-guard.
- There’s a move called False Swipe that will do damage, but will not knock out the foe if it otherwise would, meaning it will keep them at 1 HP. This can be useful for safely lowering the target’s HP.
[/info]
After the tutorial, you’ll receive 5 Poké Balls for free from Dawn (or Lucas). This is nice, but you’ll probably want to have a few more, so if you haven’t already, it’s a good idea to buy 10 Poké Balls at the Poké Mart in Sandgem Town. That’ll give you plenty to catch Pokémon in the area with. Speaking of which, here are the Pokémon in the area…
[encountertable]
[/encountertable]
Starly is an absolutely fantastic Pokémon to catch and take with you all throughout the game. It evolves early, its final evolution is incredibly strong, and it’s very helpful in a lot of Gyms. It’s definitely the best Pokémon you can catch in the wild at this point in the game and one of the best you can use in the region.
Go ahead and catch a few Pokémon in the area before going too far forward, because you’ll probably want to go back to heal up the whole team since weakened Pokémon will still be weakened when they’re added to your party, and there are a few fights up ahead that you’ll want to be in good shape for.
Make your way past the first few patches of grass and, as you reach the end of the patch of grass leading you north, you’ll find a Youngster. Make sure you’re ready for a fight, because as soon as you walk in front of him, he’ll approach you and challenge you to a battle because he’s a Trainer, just like you. Trainers will challenge you to fights if they make eye contact with you or if you talk to them. Not everyone on routes or in areas is a Trainer that will battle you, but going forward, you’ll want to assume that most of them are, so just be ready for fights!
[trainertable]
[trainer c=”Youngster” n=”Tristan” p=80]
[tpoke p=starly l=5 g=m]
[/trainer]
[trainer c=”Lass” n=”Natalie” p=48]
[tpoke p=bidoof l=3 g=f]
[tpoke p=bidoof l=3 g=f]
[/trainer]
[trainer c=”Youngster” n=”Logan” p=80]
[tpoke p=shinx l=5 g=m]
[/trainer]
[/trainertable]
Youngster Tristan uses a Starly and it’s at level 5, so it might actually pose a decent threat, especially if you haven’t done much training. It hits hard with Quick Attack, so don’t be afraid to use your Potion if you need to. The good news is that Trainers’ Pokémon give a bonus 50% EXP for knocking them out, so they’re very rewarding to fight, plus you get [pd] for defeating a Trainer.
Defeat him and then keep going east, being careful not to jump down the ledge (unless you want to head back to town to heal, of course). You’ll have another Trainer to fight just up ahead: Lass Natalie. She has two Bidoof on her team, which are both only level 3, but there are two of them. These are good for one of your newer Pokémon to fight, although they’ll probably still need support from either a Potion or your starter Pokémon.
Head north through the large patch of grass and you’ll find the final Trainer of the route, Youngster Logan, who uses a Shinx. It shouldn’t be too rough because it won’t hit as hard as that Starly from earlier since it’s an Electric-type using the Normal-type Tackle, thus not getting the Same Type Attack Bonus—or STAB for short.
Keep going to the west and you’ll find a signpost. To the north of that signpost is your destination, Jubilife City, although before you go there, head all the way to the west to pick up the Potion in the tall grass. And don’t worry about that Youngster roaming around nearby; he won’t fight you. In fact, a good rule of thumb: most NPCs that walk around don’t challenge you to a battle—it’s the stationary ones or the ones that stay in one place (but can turn around to face you or just spin around in general) that are the ones that will fight you. This isn’t always true, but it’s a good rule of thumb.
Anyway, that being said, make your way into Jubilife City to the north.